Strong amonia smell in hen house???

[patandchickens]

Quote:
I dunno, it sounds to me like you have plenty of room for to keep more ventilation open without bothering the chickens at all. I mean, 50 F night temperatures is WARM. I can understand that if your air is very humid (by reason of climate, I mean, the outdoor air too, not just a coop issue) that you might be a bit more paranoid about frostbite as the temperature gets close to 32 F... but you are WAY far from that now

You just don't want a breeze blowing on them when they're on the roost. How to implement more nighttime ventilation depends on the layout of the coop. Unfortunately a number of your airflow openings may in fact be drafty at the chickens (depending on how your coop is arranged) -- the windows, the gaps around the door. Ideally what you want is CROSS-ventilation (not on the windward side on a windy day, of course), so you might get some benefit from installing more and/or bigger vent openings at the tops of some or all of the walls.

Basically, if it smells worse in the morning (when it's been shut up all night) than it does in the late afternoon or evening (when it's been more aired out during the day), that is telling you that you are shutting it up too much at night

You are right, though, that a droppings board will also help, if cleaned every morning.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[Chez Poulet]

I've just read your ventilation page and gleaned some info from it we'll implement. The other options I have right now are to collect the droppings and replace the shavings often. As soon as it starts to smell like amonia, I'd rather just clean it all out and start with fresh shavings again than have to smell the amonia and put my and the birds' health at risk. I have a fantastic compost pile heaping up and the evergreen really like it.
Thanks so much for your input.

 

[Anny]

how big if your coop and how many chickens are in the area?? to many chickens could be over pooping the area? Maybe

 

[Chez Poulet]

Quote:
It's an 8 x 8 and 6 feet high. We have five nest boxes and two parallel roosting perches. They are really not inside unless they are laying and sleeping. Sleeping seems to be the most poop, I swear they make cow patties!

 

[scrapmom5]

I thought that we fixed the problem when I found the leak in the joint. We fixed that and have no other problems except that it still smells after about 2-3 weeks. We have 9 foot ceilings that is open the length of the windows with the chicken hole always open. In Utah we are a "dry" climate but the hen house is at 45-53% humid. I don't know what else to do. DH is planning on putting in electric vents to see if that helps. I am working on encouraging all my girls to vacate the house during the day.

Are there any other suggestions???

 

[LynneP]

You might have some damp wood still, or a pocket of damp material under your floor that isn't apparent. Is it possible some of the birds' treats are making the manure wetter? I know my girls make terrible manure with Brussels sprouts so they're never getting them again!

I've decided not to go with the deep-litter method, I'm spot-cleaning daily mostly with a paint scraper and catch bucket. I clean the roosts and the platforms then take a kitty-litter tool to clean up the floor and run. I use generous amounts of food grade DE and 'Stable Boy' in the bedding, which is planks over concrete.

With such high ceilings I think you have adequate ventilation- so maybe the deep-litter method is not your best choice at this time. If you ever locate the source of the problem maybe you can try again. Sorry it's been so difficult, I know you've worked hard to get it right.

 

[never enough birds]

we have a dirt floor so I don't know if this would be any help or not, I usually spread lime with a hand sifter, under the roost about everyother day, and for me that usually takes care of the amonia smell.

 

[scrapmom5]

Ok...This is what I have figured out. The Hen house smells like roses (pine) when the weather is dry. When we get rain or snow for two or more days in a row the hen house smells not so fresh. I have now covered part of the run so that it can stay dry. My guess is when the hens go out to play and get their little feet/bodies wet and then return to the house they tend to get the litter wet causing the nasty smell. We will see if this works.

 

[Guitartists]

Moved their water out of the coop... smell went away. Now the only time it smells is when a bit of rain gets in by the openings and I stir the shavings around

 

[Chez Poulet]

I think I figured out the problem too with the amonia smell. Aside from keeping as much poop out as possible and keeing things dry, I remember I did not have this problem smell in the summer, just when it started to rain. So reading up on amonia, I discovered when it comes into contact with water, it starts to smell. Since amonia is ligher than air, it will be more concentrated toward the ceiling. It seems that keeping the high windows open (as long as it's not windy out) and having adequate ventilation, it has been helping. Also, turning the litter over so the stuff on the bottom can dry out on top helps too. I am getting about a week more out of having to change the litter now. I've also stopped feeding them any kind of wet treats later in the afternoon, they just get that in the morning so they poop it out in the run, not the coop.